Berei skool ’n mens regtig voor op die volwasse lewe wat op jou wag ná graad 12?

Did you know that the average US student spends around 1,260 hours a
year in school?
Attending school is a fundamental part of a child’s life by gving them a chance to acquire knowledge
on various different fields of education including literature, art, mathematics, science, history etc.
But let’s just pause and think for a moment, Does today’s education system effectively prepare
students for the real world?

This topic is quite controversial so lets look at both sides. Supporting this argument, school can
prepare us for the real world as it teaches us to adapt to meeting deadlines, working in teams,
thinking critically and outside of the box, punctuality as well as learning how to learn, finding study
methods and strong points that can later assist us in university as well as any workplace.

However, schools main focus is on academic knowledge and teaching students to memorize
information and while this may be useful in preparing students for varsity, it’s not as effective when
it comes to jobs and the real world. Does school teach us how to manage our money? How to
negotiate and communicate with people? How to do our taxes? Basic first aid? Domestic skills? Do
you know how many teens cant even cook and clean these days.

Not all parents teach these basic “life”skills to their children and this is where schools could jump in
and provide teaching in a universal way.

Students are required to do mathematics in school, yet this subject doesn’t teach them much about
money management, financial sucesss or how the stock, markets, investments and insurance really
work in the real world.

hat doesn’t teach them skills for financial success, money

management. Students don’t learn how the stock markets works,
how investment or insurance really work in real world.
Teaching real-life skills should be mandatory in schools.
We believe that schools must prepare all students for success by
giving them the skills they need to become productive adults, and
make sure they are equipping the tomorrow’s workforce in an
efficient way.

While school can provide us with the knowledge, the socialising, the
…. Is it preparing us for all aspects of life?
School is not life
Because we are social creatures, most of our life, and most of our success
in life, is not based on academics.

Our life consists of relationships — with ourselves, with our teachers, with
our colleagues, with our families and neighbors, and with fellow citizens.
Our ability to thrive in those relationships determines a large part of our
life.

Relationships are especially true in the world of work, something for which
school is supposed to prepare us. Daniel Goleman, the author
of “Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ,” found that 90
percent of career success comes from our emotional intelligence, not
academic intelligence.

The National Network of Business and Industry Associations defines four

categories of employability skills. Only one of those categories, Applied
Knowledge, relates to academics.

The other three categories cover Personal Skills, People Skills,

and Workplace Skills. These vital non-academic skills include:

 Integrity

 Respect

 Initiative

 Decision making

 Problem-solving

 Teamwork

 Conflict resolution

Even straight-A students need these skills in order to succeed in school

and work, and life.

Schools can teach life

How can schools address all those non-academic personal, people, and
workplace skills that help us succeed in the workplace and, incidentally, in
the rest of life?

For decades, some schools have been including social-emotional learning,

or SEL, in their curriculum. It’s a jargony name for the research-proven
methods to teach the personal, people, and workplace skills we all need to
thrive in school, work, and relationships.

Schools that fully implement SEL see incredible results:

 Greater academic achievement

 Lower disciplinary problems

 Higher test scores

 Graduation rates

Research also shows that young adults who have received SEL instruction
experience:

 Less poverty

 Drug abuse

 Violence

 Crime

 Workplace conflict

These adults have higher rates of mental and physical wellness, creative
collaboration, and happiness. They even pass along their social and
emotional smarts to their children.

Not enough schools teach all about life

Currently, only a quarter of schools teach the personal, people, and
workplace skills that cover the vast majority of our lives. That alone is
tragic.

Even worse, today’s youth are suffering through a national mental health
crisis, according to the U.S. Surgeon General, the American Academy of
Pediatrics, the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, and
the Children’s Hospital Association.

If we want all our children prepared for all of life, then we need all our
schools to start teaching all the skills needed in life.